The Quick Read: Rachel Dolezal Faces Up To 15 Years In Prison For Welfare Fraud

Rachel Dolezal has been charged with welfare fraud and faces up to 15 years in prison. According to court documents, Dolezal illegally received over $8,000 in food and childcare assistance from August 2017 to November 2017 while depositing nearly $84,000 throughout the same period from her book sales, speaking engagements and artwork sales. She is charged with 1st-degree theft by welfare fraud, perjury in the 2nd degree and false verification for public assistance. (The Root)

After over 30 years, Debra Lee has resigned from her post as BET CEO. Lee first joined the network in 1986 and has helped grow the cabler to become the leading African-American brand. The longtime executive had already ceded her day-to-day responsibilities to Scott M. Mills in December. Her official last day at the TV giant is May 28. (THR)

Netflix and Dee Rees have teamed up for a political thriller, Joan Didion’s The Last Thing He Wanted. Starring Anne Hathaway, the Mudbound director’s adaptation centers on a Washington Post journalist who gets caught up in covert government operations. “I’m so excited to be able to interpret this literary masterpiece,” Rees says. No release date has been set. (Shadow and Act)

Now that R. Kelly is finally getting his long overdue judgment in mainstream media, Hulu has ordered a BuzzFeed News documentary that will focus on the R&B singer’s alleged sexual abuse of black women and girls. Reports by Jim DeRogatis and Marisa Carroll that revisited R. Kelly’s extensive history of misconduct will be included in the feature. No premiere date and a title have been announced. (Shadow and Act)

Amber Rose took to her Instagram stories to address a variety of rumors she’s faced throughout her career, including her relationship with ex-husband Wiz Khalifa, current status with rapper 21 savage and her comments on colorism. “I have never said the girls in Philly are ugly,” she wrote. “When I said they weren’t “traditionally attractive” I meant by bullshit standards of European beauty… I was speaking on colorism.” (The Shade Room)

Kanye West paid $85,000 to license the infamous drug-littered photo of Whitney Houston’s bathroom for Pusha T’s Daytona album. The pic, which became a tabloid staple following her death, was reportedly taken during the height of her drug abuse. While the image wasn’t initially set to be used for the album artwork, West told Pusha, ‘No, this is what people need to see to go along with this music.” (People)